Pacemaker or defibrillator leads are becoming increasingly prevalent. Lead extraction is sometimes a necessary procedure for infection, vascular disease or patient preference. Current extraction systems require the use of a locking stylet system in order to remove the pacer or defibrillator lead. The locking stylet provides traction over the lead body, to allow an extraction sheath to be advanced over the length of the lead, on an outer surface thereof, to break up tissue adhering to the lead.
With prior art systems, if a locking stylet cannot be placed within the central lumen of the lead, this usually precludes the extraction of the lead, since traction cannot be produced, and an extraction sheath cannot be effectively inserted over the lead without tensile support. One styletless system is known and manufactured by Cook Medical under the trademark BULLDOG, and described as “lead extender.” This system uses the inner core wire by a locking mechanism to form a bond between the lead and a lead extender. This bond formed by the Cook Medical system has limited strength characteristics and can be relatively slow and difficult to employ, thus exemplifying the need for an improved system of styletless lead extraction.
Furthermore, with both stylet based and styletless systems, the metal wire locking stylet or corresponding structure must be held in gloved hands of a medical practitioner and have significant tension applied thereto. This tensioning of the thin metal wire can cause discomfort and fatigue to the operator when placing traction on the wire. Also, it can be difficult to collect slack in such prior art extraction systems, often leading to less than satisfactory looping of the wire around the wrist of the medical practitioner. Accordingly, an improved human interface with the traction wire is needed.